Hyderabad: Uproarious scenes rocked the Telangana Legislative Assembly on Sunday after Congress MLA T. Jeevan Reddy rushed towards agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and threw on his table a report submitted by the Karimnagar collector over the severe drought condition in the district.
Mr Jeevan Reddy protested against the state government declaring only 19 mandals in Karimnagar as drought-hit while the entire district was facing severe drought. He said that Karimnagar collector submitted a report seeking declaration of 40 mandals as drought-hit but the government ignored it.
“Political grounds, not scientific parameters were the basis behind declaring the drought-hit mandals. While the entire state is reeling under severe drought, the government declared just 231 mandals as drought-hit,” Mr Jeevan Reddy alleged.The remarks evoked sharp reaction from the treasury benches.
Mr Srinivas Reddy said, “A high-level committee comprising senior officials conducted a series of meetings to determine drought, based on rainfall during kharif and identified 231 mandals. The government approved this and declared them drought-hit. Neither the CM or ministers were involved in this and the government had not shown any bias against any district or mandal.”
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Mr Jeevan Reddy who was not convinced and lost his cool. He rushed towards the minister's seat displaying the Karimnagar collector's report, threw it on his table and asked him to read it.
Heated exchanges between TRS MLAs and Mr Jeevan Reddy followed and utter chaos prevailed in the House forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House, the first time in the Budget session.
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When the House reconvened, ministers K.T. Rama Rao and Kadiam Srihari raised strong objection over Mr Jeevan Reddy’s behaviour and demanded he apoligise. However, he did not relent and Congress MLAs later staged a walkout.
Uttam, Revanth meet OU students
TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and TS TD MLA A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday participated in a public meeting organised by the Telangana Vidyarthi Nirudyoga JAC at the Osmania University.
The two leaders spoke on various issues including unemployment among educated youth and release of notifications for one lakh jobs promised by the CM before bifurcation.
Delay in appointment of Vice-Chancellor for OU and other state government run universities was also raised at the meeting.
